Annie Leibovitz
The Little Mermaid
Background History
Annie worked on taking certain parts of this particular photo separately; mainly the parts including Michael Phelps (front) and Julianne Moore ( Princess Ariel). Phelps was shot while swimming in a tank saved for underwater scenes in movies, and Julianne was posed in the studio with the other props. The other mermaids/men were Janet Evans, Brendan Hansen and Cullen Jones, who later on joined Phelps in the tank to take the final shot. It is a studio photo, though it does have the aspect of being an action photo as well. Depicting a scene in "The Little Mermaid" by Disney, this piece really seems to bring the animated cartoon to life.
My Opinion
Overall, I do think I like this portrait, though the change from cartoon to real life is a bit of a shock. It is unique to me because something like this has never been done before, and it is something that one would have tried a lot earlier I would think. It also has the water aspect, which I do not see in many photos. This one I particular was well done, although the focal point is a tad skewed in my mind. I am not sure exactly what to change, but if I were it would involve the position of Michael's tail as well as the top left swimmer. As for the person's personality, I think they did capture Ariel by well.